Ch. 03 - Invitation
The flight was almost thirteen hours, including a change in Denver. Shannon had arranged to collect me at Heathrow. We wouldn't need a second rental car, and she'd have had two months to re-familiarize herself with driving on the left, as long as Zurich hadn't thrown her judgement off. I'd taken Thursday and Friday as part of my vacation, since the flight was overnight. Shannon had taken Friday to meet the afternoon arrival.
She was waiting outside customs. I wasn't expecting the jolt to my heart or the way I found myself smiling so wide I could feel my cheeks stretch. I was used to feeling strong emotions with Shannon, but they were mostly confined to when I was alone with her in anonymous hotel rooms. And, most recently, her own elegantly-decorated bedroom.
Just as oddly, I wasn't used to seeing Shannon's face light up with joy. There might have been a hint of naughtiness in her expression, but it seemed for the most part that she was just happy to see me. When I succeeded in getting to her through the crowd, she stole my big suitcase and wheeled it beside her.
"I reserved a table for us at a pub in a town called Pangbourne," she said. "Recommended by a guy at work. We'll probably be early, but we can look around."
Freeing my hand, I set it on her arm. She turned to give me a puzzled look.
"Hello, Shannon," I said. "It's great to see you."
Her eyes widened, and she laughed. "Hi yourself, Kat. I guess I'm not at work, am I?" She released the handle of my case and held her arms out for a hug. I set my bag down, then stepped into her embrace.
The faint woodsy scent that I'd noticed on our very first meeting brushed lightly against my senses. I knew what it was now, having used Shannon's body wash many times in hotel rooms, but it was different when Shannon's skin wore it, as if she brought out different highlights. Hints of juniper and sage which didn't seem to be present for me. My heart soared at its familiarity, after two months' absence.
The choice to greet each other with a kiss seemed mutual, but I couldn't swear which of us initiated deepening the kiss until we were both panting. I suspect it was me. It really wasn't what we did. Kissing was a bedroom activity, not a social one. There was no sense in getting aroused standing in a crowd at the airport, but I was, and so was Shannon, if her blown pupils and flushed cheeks were any indication.
Tucking the strap of my bag over my shoulder, I said, "Uh, well. I'm expecting a more complete greeting later." I lifted the handle of my case and followed her through the airport.
The town (village?) was very picturesque, the pub being right beside a clean looking, fast-flowing river. Shannon told me it was the Thames, which surprised me, given the pictures I'd seen of the river in London. I guess even the Mississippi has to start as a stream somewhere. We walked around the town, then waited the last twenty minutes before our reservation at the pub.
That was when how far I'd travelled really struck home. In the strange looking building, among the strange accents, drinking strange beer. Shannon recommended I get a half pint, until I decided whether I liked it, while she would also only get a half because she had over an hour to drive yet (on a strange side of the road). The strangeness of the beer didn't keep me from beginning to enjoy it before the glass was empty, and getting a second one, though the lack of sleep and time change had me feeling a little woozy when we left. According to my body's clock, it had been early morning when I arrived, and was currently around noon.
Shannon drove to the numbered space in our hotel's parking lot, then helped me collect my bags. The effect of the beer had worn off, but I was still feeling a little spacy from the travel. The sun had set, but the sky was still light.
"It feels later in the year than it should," I commented.
"We're well north of the forty-ninth parallel here," Shannon said. "Maybe a couple of hundred miles north of Vancouver."
"That might account for the feeling," I said. "That means short days in winter."
Shannon gave me a wicked grin. "It also means long nights keeping someone warm."
I laughed. "True enough."
She helped me unpack my suitcase and hang my clothes. There were no surprise sex toys this time. I wouldn't want to explain those to US airport customs on return. Nor, for that matter, Heathrow customs.
"I need a shower," I said. "If you feel like washing my back, give me five minutes to remove the travel stink."
Shannon's smile was mischievous as she nodded.
Not only did Shannon want to "wash my back," it seemed she'd planned for it. I was done scrubbing and was relaxing in the hot water when she showed up with a small dispenser bottle of silicone lube. After scant seconds soaping up my back, she rinsed off her hands, squirted lube onto her fingers and wrapped her arms around me to play with my breasts.
"I thought you were here to wash my back," I said.
"I'm here to give you a better greeting," she said. "How are you, babe?"
"Better for your touch after you've deprived me of it for two months," I said. Relaxing into her arms, I stroked the back of her hands.
As she continued to squeeze my boobs the warmth of the water kindled my arousal. I tried to turn around to face her, but she gripped my breasts and held me in place. "Just relax, Kat," she said. "Let me take care of you."
Turning my face to look over my shoulder, I whined, "But I want to kiss you!"
I felt her shrug against my back. "Okay," she said, "I can totally understand you going into withdrawal from not having me around." She met my lips and kissed me.
At this angle she didn't attempt to play her lip torment games, but she was still the best kisser I'd ever known. Her tongue soon had me wishing my lips were free to beg for more. Which I guess would have defeated the purpose. Her thumbs snapped my nipples side to side. They became more sensitive as they hardened, making each touch turn me on further.
Eventually, I had to turn my face forward, breaking the kiss. I sank further into her arms, resting the back of my head on her shoulder, moaning softly. I caressed her hips, my hands behind me.
Shannon squirted more lube onto the fingers of her right hand, then moved her left hand further around, supporting me with her hand on my right breast as her right hand sought my pussy. She easily slid one lubed finger into me, pumping her hand to bring me ever greater arousal.
She didn't attempt to draw out my pleasure. I was exhausted, and she knew it, so she just kept up a quick rhythm until I was ready to come, then pressed her thumb to my clit as she kept rocking her hand.
My climax rolled over me, instantly turning my thighs to jelly. Shannon continued to hold me up, her left arm under mine, her hand squeezing my right breast, and the finger inside my sex helping her to keep me upright and balanced.
"My God," I groaned, my aftershocks still twitching my sex against her finger.
"Was that a better welcome?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah," I agreed. "But now I think you're going to have to dry me off before you carry me to bed. At least I think I'll sleep like a log."
I did sleep well. I woke around two a.m., which was six p.m. body time, but I curled up against Shannon and quickly got back to sleep.
At nine in the morning, I was ready to start the day. I still hadn't fully accommodated the time change, but was ready to power through it, and if I could stay awake until bedtime I should be golden.
Shannon glanced over to me. She was sitting in the bed, a sheet pulled over her breasts, and was texting furiously.
"Morning, Shan," I croaked, then cleared my throat. "Texting one of your French girls?"
She scowled at me. "I told you, I won't. This is my friend Sarah."
"Oh, yeah? Have you seen her yet?" I asked.
She shook her head. "I was insanely busy before Zurich. The training was tough, and I had notes to research, and I wanted to be sure I'd completely cleared these three weeks. I'm trying to coordinate introducing you to them." She glanced down at her phone with a smile.
"Do you want tea?" she asked, tossing the phone aside.
I felt puzzled for a moment, then, "Oh, right. I suppose we don't have coffee?"
"We do, but I think the tea is better." My mouth went dry as she pushed the sheet back, then padded naked over to the hospitality tray. The feeling stirring within me suggested my body had gone beyond thinking it was one a.m. She filled the kettle with water, then plugged it in. "Which would you prefer?"
"I'll try the tea," I said.
Her phone pinged again. Shannon placed tea bags in the small tea pot, prepared cups and packaged milk, then returned to bed to check her message. "She would like to invite us for dinner on Friday. Her partner doesn't like crowded places, or strangers, but fortunately we already met. She'll cook for us. Expect vegetarian."
"Fine with me," I said. "I'm looking forward to meeting them."
The kettle was starting to boil, so I got to study her glorious naked form again. She must have felt - or expected - my eyes on her, because she turned her head quickly to catch me ogling her bare ass. She smirked and turned back to the tea preparation.
"Milk and sugar?" she asked. Another thing we didn't know about each other, though, to be fair, we each knew exactly how the other took her coffee.
"No sugar," I said.
"That's what I thought," Shannon said. I drank in the sight of her as she stalked across the room with my tea in hand. "You act as though you haven't seen me in months," she remarked, moving to pick up her own tea.
"Other than a very pleasant but all too brief moment in the shower last night, I haven't!" I agreed. "And I never reciprocated. Do we have time to get another shower together now, or do you have the day planned like a conference?"
"I do have some plans before Friday, but not today," she said. "And they're cancelable if we need, or I can keep them as a surprise. We'll need to take a bag for an overnight hotel stay, but I figure we can share a case."
"Sounds mysterious, and I trust you, so don't cancel," I said. "So you'll let me wash your back this morning?"
"Of course," Shannon said, with a grin. "Later we could get breakfast and shop. We can walk around the town center from here."
My getting reacquainted with Shannon's body delayed us until noon. Instead of finding a breakfast restaurant, Shannon led me to a shop with a very appetising smell. By the time we'd reached the front of the line, my stomach was making embarrassing noises. Shannon laughed as it growled loudly while she was ordering. I shrugged awkwardly at the woman behind the counter.
The sausage rolls she ordered were nothing like kolaches, which is what I assumed they'd be. They were flaky and delicious, and were making me rethink everything I'd heard about British food.
With hunger pangs quelled, we walked around the shopping district. The day was overcast, but not cold. The only stain on an otherwise great afternoon was that Shannon had to save me from walking out into traffic after looking in the wrong direction.
The event shook me. Shannon checked her phone, then led me to a coffee shop where I could catch my breath. "I'm glad you were watching out for me," I said. "I don't want to die on vacation. All that paperwork."
"I don't want you dying on my vacation, either," Shannon said. "Wait until you get back home, okay?" She added, "It does take a few days to get your bearings."
When we left the coffee shop, she kept her hand tucked into my arm, to help me avoid repeating the error.
On Sunday we visited a tea room, with the goal of comparing it to the one we had tried in Victoria. Bristol won out, partly because the selection was more limited. Our cream scones with jam weren't interrupted by other finger sandwiches, and I announced that I could live on nothing but scones with cream for the rest of my days.
Shannon found that amusing, but she added that she'd vote for this tea room also because of the atmosphere of being in a building likely a century older than the one in Canada, with solid wide-grained wooden floors that weren't perfectly level.
On Monday and Tuesday we travelled outside the city. Stonehenge was a must, of course, and was our first day trip. On Tuesday we drove over the Clifton suspension bridge. When we pulled into the viewing area, Shannon said, "You can cross as a pedestrian, too, and the views are supposed to be great. But when I say, 'you can cross,' I mean you can cross. I'll sit right here."
"I'm proud of you for being able to drive across," I said.
Shannon shrugged. "Cars on well-travelled roads don't bother me too much. There are parts of the Pacific Coast Highway that make me nervous, but I can do it. I just can't feel that I'm exposed near a drop. I probably could walk across the bridge, but I'm not taking the chance."
Both evenings we walked to a restaurant. One was in the shopping area, the other by the river.
"I need to find the hotel gym," I said, drinking after-dinner coffee on Tuesday.
"Not tomorrow, though," said Shannon, "because that's the excursion I have planned."
We used Shannon's garment back for our shared overnight bag. I took a change of clothes, makeup and toiletries, and decided on a deep blue midi dress, since she'd told me to pack something dressy for the evening.
"Hey, Shannon, is this dress too young for me?" I asked, holding the dress in front of me. The neckline was very low, and the back was open but for the crossed spaghetti straps.
She looked at the dress critically, then at me even more so. "Are you fishing for compliments? No, it's not too young. You know you'll look incredible in it."
Fair enough. I added it to the bag.
I figured out our destination when the signposts at each turn Shannon made included Stratford-upon-Avon. "We're going to see the bard?"
"We're going to see the bard's tourist traps, yeah," she replied, with a chuckle.
Wandering around ancient houses was poignant. Truly ancient cottages, with crooked floors, crooked walls and crooked beams, like drawings in fairytale books when I was a child. It became part of the sense of strangeness I was still feeling. The places might not have much connection to the writings, but they felt connected to the people, and the lives they led.
"This was a good idea," I said to Shannon.
"It's only half," she answered. "We should find our hotel."
We made our way back to the car, then to the hotel. It was an old building, with irregular rooms and angled hallways. The floor creaked slightly, but the room, when we found it, unlocking it with a large metal key, was comfortable.
We changed without getting in each other's way too badly. The faucets on the wash basin were separate rather than combined. I didn't think to check the labels, then yelped as I scalded myself under what I thought was the cold water. The right faucet was clearly marked 'H'.
"If I die on this vacation, please have a cream tea in my honor," I said, when Shannon showed up to check on the noise.
She'd arranged a taxi to our destination. I had no road sign clues this time. Until the taxi stopped at a dock, I had no notion that the river itself was our destination. Shannon presented her phone at a lighted riverboat and led us aboard.
Shannon had signed us up for a dinner cruise on the Avon. The squat boat had clearly been in service for many years, but the dining hall was elegant and old-fashioned, the light low - electric, but with the soft golden glow of candles. I was sure there would be real candles if it hadn't been a fire risk.
Some diners were very casually dressed, but we weren't out of place. Shannon's eyes sparkled in the low light as she took my arm while we followed our guide to our table.
I'd taken riverboat dining cruises before. If they're available in a city, they're a good place to relax for off-the-record chats with clients or potential clients. This was different. There was no theme, no dancing, no band, no gambling. Just the soft murmur of conversations, not all of which sounded to be in English accents, though I couldn't hear words.
When the boat began to move I couldn't even hear accents. The engines were a low purr as the lights of the city drifted beside us.
We passed the theaters, and the church where Shakespeare is buried. We hadn't seen that on our walk. Perhaps we'd try to visit tomorrow. Surely they'd allow visitors?
Everyone seemed to be watching the scenery avidly. Most of the other tables were clearly couples on dates, and when they were not watching through the windows, they were gazing at each other.
Shannon and I weren't here on a date, of course, but that didn't stop the atmosphere feeding the lust in my heart, as I daydreamed of undressing her in our creaky hotel room. And the way her shining eyes kept drifting down to my neckline showed me she was having similar thoughts.
Even when the city grew distant, there were always lights - cars, houses by the river, pubs with brightly-lit signs, fast-moving trains with illuminated carriages.
"We should take a train ride," I announced.
"To where?" Shannon asked. It seemed her eyes had already been on me when I turned from the window. My face felt oddly warm. Yeah, I could tell what she'd been thinking.
"Anywhere," I said. "Maybe we could find somewhere served by one of those high speed trains. I'd like to experience that."
"Sure," she said. "We'll ask Sarah where she'd recommend. Maybe to London. We should visit, and it's a nightmare to drive there."
The boat came to a lock, where the land seemed to lower itself by magic. Much like the illusion of the riverbank moving while we remained stationary, here the ground seemed to descend around us, while we floated in place.
Menu selection was limited, but the choices were good. I chose lamb, while Shannon selected roast chicken. Of course we each tried the other's plate. Her chicken was almost as good as my lamb.
Service was slow, but that only added to the charm. We wouldn't be going ashore for a long time, so there was no hurry to finish.
There'd been cocktails on the outbound leg, and wine with the meal, so I could use the excuse of lowered inhibitions to justify consuming my entire dessert.
Setting my spoon down at last, I said, "I really, really, really need to find the gym."
"Friday," Shannon replied. "Or tomorrow afternoon, if you like. I think I'd be up for it. Maybe we should visit the spa on Friday, too."
"Oh, yeah, that would be good," I agreed.
I returned to watching reflections on the water as the town began to slide into view. When I felt her eyes on me, I returned her playful grin. I was basking in the peace of the cruise, and had no desire to hurry it up, but I was hungry to be naked with Shannon. This river journey had energized my desire for her.
The time between now and getting to our room would at least allow that far-too-delicious dessert to settle.
It was almost an hour before we arrived back at the hotel.
After I'd stepped out of my shoes and hung my jacket, I turned around to find Shannon inches from me. She tugged me closer by my neckline.
Her proximity and the determined look in her eye made my stomach lurch and my thighs clench. I was surprised at how husky my voice sounded as I said, "Looks like you have something on your mind."
"I do, and you have a starring role."
I reached out to unfasten the top of her two piece dress, but she shook her head, stepping backward for a moment. "No," she said. "I don't want you distracted. I'll help you out, though." She unfastened her own top, tossing it over a chair, then her skirt followed it. She stood before me in her black balconette bra and black panties with stockings.
"You think this isn't distracting?"
"In a different way," Shannon said. "You mustn't touch."
"Oh, God, that's not going to be easy," I said.
Shannon moved back in, then set her hands on the base of my neck. "Well, okay, you can touch," she said, "just not anywhere naughty, and you mustn't touch my clothes, so you can't cheat and 'accidentally' undress me further. Okay?"
God, whatever her rules were for, she was exciting me.
She drew my face to hers and began one of her intense, infuriatingly slow kisses. Ripples of pleasure sank into me. My belly quivered as my clit began to throb. Her teeth drew lightly over the outside of my upper lip, while her tongue stroked the inside. Her short nails caressed the side of my neck.
How did she manage to own me so completely with such a simple act?
Her fingernails dug into my neck as her thumbs pressed below my chin, turning my face higher. Then she was devouring my tongue. I gripped her waist - she'dxxxxxxxxxxxxxx44 said I could do that - to keep myself upright as a new surge of arousal rocked my body. I moaned into the lips that sealed mine.
Shannon wasn't unaffected. Her breathing into the kiss was rough. Then she broke the kiss, leaving me panting, to kiss the side of my neck.
"I love how easily you get turned on," she whispered into my neck.
I groaned before replying. "I don't. Not like this. Only for you, Shan. It's your magic, not my reaction." Then I added, "And I've spent all evening thinking about getting you naked, so I was already horny as hell."
Her teeth scratched lightly against the base of my neck. Then I felt my straps sliding over my shoulders. Because they criss-crossed over my back they didn't fall down my arms, but Shannon slid them down anyway, my breasts slipping free. Her fingers lightly gripped at my nipples. My breath shuddered.
Breaking the kiss, I begged her, "Please take my dress all the way off."
"Don't be impatient, babe," she chided me.
"No," I said, managing to avoid her lips. "I don't want to stain it."
Her eyes widened in amusement, and she began to tug the dress down to the floor. "It's like that, is it?"
"It is," I whined.
When my dress was around my ankles she ran a finger down the front of my panties. "Mmm," she murmurs. "It is very much like that." Her eyes tracked down my legs. "And you should have told me about the stockings. I wouldn't have hesitated if I'd known."
I squirmed as her fingers smoothed the fabric against my swelling pussy lips. Then she backed away, nodding to the crumpled dress. I didn't want her to stop touching me even for a moment, but I dutifully lifted the dress by its straps, then turned to hang it up.
This time she didn't wait for me to face her. Hands met my waist from behind, while lips touched the base of my neck. The hands glided upward to cup both breasts, while her lips drew back, teeth pressing into my neck. They scraped backward, Shannon turning the action into a kiss that made me writhe against her, a suckling kiss that drew tingling passion to my neck, where it flowed into my heaving chest, making me moan with need. I covered the hands on my breast with my own, then undulated my butt against her panties.
Her hips reacted to mine, grinding against me for a few seconds, before she whispered into my ear, the tickling sending a new wave of feeling into my clit. "Stop that!"
Shannon's hands dropped to my hips, my own still on them, until she gently spun me away from the closet door to the wall beside it. She kissed me again, pushing me back to the wall, her fingertips caressing my waist. I caught a glimpse of her breasts, molded by the balconette bra as it was lifted by my chest. I closed my eyes, filled by the press of her tongue to mine, as I lifted my fingers to run through her hair.
Her body slid down mine as she dropped to her knees. Her teeth closed around my left nipple, and I made a soft cry of need. She nipped and tugged on it before releasing it to place vibrant kisses all over my breast, lips and tongue turning the surface into a tingling warmth, the skin of my breast feeling tight, while my nipple became sensitive to any accidental brush or breath.
She suckled my nipple again before switching to my right breast. Each gentle, deliberate kiss made my belly twitch and my clitoris ache. I wanted her to hurry, and I wanted this feeling to last all night. Every time we had sex, she turned me a little further inside out. I needed her, but I always wanted more.
She moved her face back, lifting her hands to my breasts, lightly pinching each nipple with finger and thumb. My fingers were still in her hair, but I didn't pull her to me. Each gentle twist of a nipple caused my clit to spark. She was tormenting me with just enough touch to make my craving for her grow.
My aching clit felt hard enough to burst.
Moving her right hand down to my panties, she stroked again along my slit, drawing the fabric up and down against me, sliding along my swollen, sensitive labia. Then she was pulling my panties down over my stockings with both hands. Her lips latched onto my left nipple as her finger lightly slid up and down against my folds. My teeth clenched against moaning out, but my breath shuddered.
Shannon dropped her hands to my sex, then bent her head down. I gave up trying to keep my fingers in her hair, as she parted my lips, then stiffened her tongue to caress them, pushing it deep, then lapping at the edges. My arousal coated her tongue, easing its passage.
"Shannon," I groaned, my voice rasping deep from within me. "If you make me come here, I'm going to collapse to the floor. I have nothing left."
She continued for a while, as if not having heard me. Each stroke of her tongue sent a shiver up my spine, bringing a moan from my chest. Then she stood, pressing her lips to mine, letting me taste the coating of my arousal on her lips and tongue. I shuddered against her until she took my hand to lead me to the bed.
At Shannon's direction, I lay sideways onto the bed, my feet on the floor. She knelt between my thighs, leaning down to resume covering my breasts and neck with kisses. Every breath I released drew a small cry from my throat. She was clearly relishing my lack of control, as she looked up from her work several times, grinning at yet another gasp I hadn't been able to silence.
Taking a page from her book, I reached out to grab a pillow, pulling it close in case I needed it.
Small tremors were fluttering through the base of my belly when Shannon finally moved away from my breast. Her lips trailed down my stomach. She caressed my pussy lips with her tongue, then raised my left leg, and kissed down it, tugging my stocking down before her lips. She repeated the action with my left leg, her lips and teeth, causing jolts of heat to zip through me.
Lowering herself to a crouch, she draped my thighs over her shoulders and began to kiss my pussy. I was so completely given over to lust that every touch of her tongue on my body was intense. I quivered and panted, barely stopping myself from bucking my hips to slam my sex into her mouth.
Her tongue drifted higher, and she inserted a finger into me, followed by two as she drew her tongue along my clit. She pressed against the inner wall of my sex, and suddenly the tongue against my clit seemed redundant. I thought I would come quickly under her tongue, but instead, a powerful upwelling of sensation rose from deep within me. Without even feeling the urge to cry out, I found I was coming, my sex clenching around Shannon's fingers, my hips slamming upward.
I didn't find my breath immediately, panting only when the intensity of the contractions began to wane. I writhed beneath her tongue, which continued to flick my clit. A series of aftershocks caused my sex to clamp down on her fingers again, so that I didn't realize until the aftershocks were fading that her tongue was still lapping at my sex, and I was well on the path to a second high.
About to crest again, I threw the pillow over my face and muted my cries as my body erupted for a second time.
Shannon was relentless. When she withdrew her fingers, I thought she was done, but I felt them enter again, stretching my vagina. The discomfort was sharp, and I thought it would quell my passion, but almost as soon as she began to pump her fingers into me I felt a surge of excitement.
She sucked my clit, bobbing her head, and I was powerless to resist a third strong climax. Again, I silenced my cries with the pillow, then collapsed to the bed, pushing her away.
Shannon stripped as I levered myself into the center of the bed. I may have been unable to use my limbs at that moment, but I was sure with five minutes' recovery I could find something she'd appreciate.
We walked to Shannon's friends' place, though we'd be taking an Uber back. I made sure to follow her at crossings and not accidentally walk ahead of her. I was becoming accustomed to looking right first, and Shannon didn't need to take my hand to hold me back. Which was good because I carried bottles in each hand.
Shannon's friends were an attractive couple, around her age, or a little younger. Hazel-eyed Sarah, with whom Shannon had been trading texts, wore her dark hair in tight curls, while her partner, Samantha, had quite startlingly green eyes and silky chestnut hair. She was taller than Sarah, of a height with Shannon and me.
Sarah hugged Shannon, then took my hand warmly. Shannon had warned me that Samantha, her partner, would avoid physical contact, so I just smiled at her. She returned the smile, though it seemed a practiced expression rather than natural.
"I have wine," I announced, "if you, uh, drink wine?"
Sarah grinned and took the bag from me. "I do," she said.
"That's perfect, then," I said, "Because the other bag is for Samantha. Shan mentioned how much you enjoyed cooking, Samantha." She took a look in the bag as I held it open for her. "I'm sure you can get better olive oil in any grocery, but I thought you might like a taste of California from your time in the States. And I know you can get sourdough starter from Amazon, but I picked this up in San Francisco."
She took the bag. "Oh. Those are very thoughtful, Kathryn," she said.
"Kat, please," I said. Samantha frowned slightly, without response.
Sarah asked me if this was my first trip to England, and when I admitted it was she asked how I was enjoying it. She'd led us to their sitting room, and opened a bottle of wine, though Samantha was drinking something clear and fizzy.
"Fine, except for being a damsel in distress," I said. I told of how I'd almost walked out into the road on the previous weekend, then complained about how hard situational awareness was to come by in a mirror world. "Fortunately, Shannon has saved me from my own ignorance."
Shannon spoke as she distributed the glasses. "To be fair, she saved my life last month," she said, and outlined our adventures in Canada.
"You weren't in any real danger though," I objected. "Not like being about to be run over by one of those oversized buses."
"I was in danger of a breakdown," Shannon argued. "I don't know what I'd have done."
"I guess we're both damsels in distress," I said.
"We didn't see much of you on your last visit," Sarah said to Shannon.
Shannon frowned in thought for a moment, then said, "Oh, right. Well, I was busy, but, uh, I was keeping a low profile, too."
Sara's eyebrows rose. I decided to needle Shannon before she could explain. "She got a girl in trouble," I said.
Samantha's brows furrowed at that, but Shannon responded instantly, scowling at me. "I did not. I was the one in trouble." She turned back to Sarah. "Remember the evening you invited me to karaoke with your friends?" She continued as Sarah nodded. "After you left I was talking to a girl who claimed to know you distantly. She said she was Carrie Huntley's ex."
"Okay, you didn't tell me this part," I interrupted.
Shannon turned the smuggest of smiles on me. "You mean I didn't mention that Sarah and Samantha used to be Amanda Richards' roommates?"
"No, you didn't!" I yelped. "You're making this up."
"Would I lie to you?" Shannon simpered.
"Asks the woman who made me think she was married?" I retorted. "Or who claimed to have forgotten my reaction to a certain style of dress?"
"Oh, Shannon is not lying to you, Kathryn," said Samantha.
"Huh," I said. I could believe Shannon would set up a prank with Sarah, but not Samantha. "Wow?"
"Carrie did mention a breakup before she and Amanda started dating," Sarah said. "She had been in a difficult place for relationships. Would that have been Miriam?"
"It would," said Shannon. "She wasn't happy with the situation, and now she has to see Carrie's face on billboards and previews. I guess I understand how she feels, but we bonded over my name. She had another girlfriend stolen by a Shannon."
"That's a weird reason to bond," I said.
"Maybe she saw it as ironic payback," Shannon suggested. "I saw her a few times, but she got pissed that I had to leave for Munich, and doubly so when she realized I'd be returning to the States right after Paris. I thought I'd been clear that I wasn't interested in a relationship. Maybe I wasn't, or maybe she assumed that I was moving here. So I thought avoiding the Shilling and potential mutuals would be wise."
"So you two can't have been together very long," said Sarah.
I glanced at Shannon. She needed to handle sensitive questions. These were her friends.
"We met at a convention a little over a year ago," she said. "Our jobs overlap quite often."
Samantha was watching me intently, then she looked away. "Why did you mark her skin?"
The question confused me, until I realized she was asking Shannon, not me. I found myself touching the silk scarf around my neck. The night in Stratford-upon-Avon might have been the best sexual experience of my entire life, but Shannon had left a very noticeable hickey on the base of my neck. The souvenir silk scarf I'd bought to cover it featured cute hedgehogs and didn't at all go with my outfit. And apparently, it wasn't doing a good job of concealment.
Shannon blushed as red as I'd ever seen. She seemed to be flailing for a response, before saying, "Uhh... it seemed a good idea at the time?"
Samantha frowned. "Are you ashamed to be having sex with Kathryn?" she asked.
"Uh..." Again, the perfect saleswoman, who was never at a loss for the right words, seemed to struggle to decide on a response. Sarah gave Samantha a concerned look, but before she could speak, Shannon found her voice. "No," she said, decisively. "In fact, I am very happy to have sex with Kathryn."
Her words warmed me, but they didn't satisfy Samantha's curiosity.
"Were you not happy to have sex with Kathryn before you had sex with Miriam?" she asked.
"Yes, I was very happy," Shannon said. At Samantha's deepening frown, she added, "We, umm, weren't exclusive. I have always been happy to have sex with Kathryn."
Samantha's face relaxed some, but she wasn't completely done. "Do you still have sex with other women?" she asked.
"Not now," Shannon replied, while I shook my head in concurrence.
Samantha's expression cleared, though she still seemed thoughtful. I thought it might be wise to forestall any new questions, to ease Shannon's discomfort at being in the hot seat. Turning to Sarah, I said, "I'm interested in how you two became a couple. I'm sure Shannon knows, but you seem so perfect together. How did it happen?"
Sarah gave Samantha a warm smile, and her partner's expression softened for a moment. "So, this was when our future famous movie star roommate was still unknown. Before she was even unknown, when she was one of five of us sharing a flat to make ends meet..."
She continued their story, with Samantha breaking in to correct her occasionally, usually when she glossed over anything sex-related, which would leave Sarah both red-faced and amused at her partner's lack of restraint.
I found myself growing to like these women more than I'd expected. I'd asked about their relationship as a distraction, but I'd become invested in their tale.
"This is amazing, Samantha," I said, after several bites of the meal she'd prepared. It was spicy, with tomato sauces, garlic, crispy onions, and I think shallots, lentils, chick peas and two different kinds of pasta.
"Oh. Yes, it is," Samantha agreed, with no trace of conceit.
"Is it vegetarian?" I saw no sign of meat, or any animal products.
"This one is vegan," Sarah supplied. "We usually eat vegetarian, but Samantha thought this would be acceptable to everyone."
"I've always felt that I could be vegetarian if I didn't spend so much of my time on the road," I said. "Vegan or vegetarian food in restaurants is so boring, and if you're entertaining a client it's even worse, since they're going to want meat, and the vegan options are just a salad. Caesar salad if it's vegetarian. Nothing like this." I glanced at Samantha. "Is this hard to make?"
"Oh, this meal has five major steps, formed of fifty-six substeps."
"Hard," said Sarah.
"It is not hard, Sarah," Samantha objected. "Each substep is logical and time-critical substeps can be prepared in advance."
Sarah smiled at her. "You have been cooking for most of the day, beautiful," she said. "I'm sure Shan and Kat would consider it hard."
"It was not too hard to prepare for our friend and her lover," said Samantha.
A piece of perfectly crispy fried onion lodged in my throat. I managed to avoid coughing by swallowing water then clearing my throat, my hand over my mouth.
Perhaps as another distraction - we seemed to be doing a lot of that - Shannon asked if they had heard from Drs. Anderson and Bradley. They had been the ones to introduce Shannon to Samantha and Sarah in the States a few years earlier.
"Yes, at the beginning of summer," Sarah said. "They're still surviving, but their project is suffering from funding cuts."
"Targeted funding cuts" added Samantha, with disgust, the closest I'd seen her expression come to displaying negative emotion.
"Tell me about it," said Shannon, which seemed to confuse Samantha until she continued. "We've almost completely pulled out of research support in the US, but Europe is having a research windfall. I will be making a trip to Aarhus to work with a customer before leaving. The changes have left us short-handed." She turned to give me an apologetic look. "I forgot to tell you about that, babe. I'll be flying out from there, so I'll only be delayed by five days."
"Last year I didn't see you for four months after your return," I retorted. "What's five days?"
"How will that affect your work?" Sarah asked.
"Not much," Shannon said. "Research was never a large part of my job, just an interesting one. Like meeting Dr. Anderson and Dr. Bradley. And challenging. Dr. "Thornbury" here picked apart so many of my own misunderstandings that I had to work with the developers to get answers for her, which was very educational."
I tried to offer to help with the dishes, but Sarah and Samantha both declined. The apartment - flat, that is - was cozy, but there wasn't room in the kitchen for extra help. Sarah poured us each a gin and tonic - not including Samantha, of course, but she was still in the kitchen. Sarah and Shannon reminisced about last year's karaoke at the Queen's Shilling, in its purple glory. She wouldn't be there this year, or at least within the next two-and-a-half weeks, since her friends wouldn't be in town, and Samantha disliked crowds.
"You should absolutely take Kat, though," Sarah said.
"You won't catch me karaoking," I replied. "Karaokeying? Singing. You won't get me singing in public."
"I'll sign her up to sing Taylor Swift's Ronan," Shannon said.
"That would be positively evil," Sarah said. Samantha had returned and was standing in the doorway with her glass, watching us. "I didn't know you were evil, Shannon," Sarah continued.
"Why would that be especially bad?" I asked. I knew very little about Taylor Swift songs.
"Because you wouldn't be able to finish the song without turning into a puddle of tears, babe," Shannon said.
"That's definitely not for me, then," I said.
Samantha moved back to her seat, setting her glass down before her. She was frowning again, as she had been earlier.
This time I was her focus.
"Kathryn, why does Shannon call you 'babe,' but you do not use a diminutive or endearment for her?"
"Hey, beautiful," interrupted Sarah, softly, "I don't think it's polite to ask too much about our friends' relationship."
Samantha gave Sarah a contrite look. "Oh, was I being tactless? I thought that they had followed the trope of friends-with-benefits to partners, but if they don't love each other equally, the path is not complete."
I felt warmth draining from my cheeks, while Shannon's reaction was the opposite, her face flushing. She avoided my eyes, instead turning toward Sarah, as if trying to find a sympathetic ear. "We're just friends!" she insisted. "It's just a word."
Sarah returned her look with a compassionate expression. "Are you sure?" she asked. When Shannon didn't reply immediately, she said, "I don't pretend to be able to keep up with Samantha's thoughts, but sometimes I can feel the shape of them."
She reached out to take her partner's hand. "I think Samantha might have, uh, misinterpreted the final part of the puzzle. It isn't that your feelings are unequal, it's that you've set boundaries in different places. Your eyes say you're more than friends, but you avoid touching. Shannon's boundary allows her to say 'babe,' but it's still a boundary. You've set limits, because if you don't, you'll have to admit that you're in love."
She made a short, nervous laugh, then turned to Samantha. "How's that for interfering in our friends' relationship?"
My heart had started racing, and I didn't know how to react. I expected Shannon to respond with denial. Instead, her eyes flitted around the room nervously, though still avoiding mine. She closed them and leaned back in her chair.
After a few seconds, eyes still closed, Shannon's hand moved to catch mine.
Wrapping my fingers around hers, I breathed, "Oh, fuck."
Shannon's eyes opened, one brow raised.
"Hey, honey," I said.
The nature of the vacation changed after Sarah's bombshell. We'd recognized that there was more to our relationship than we'd admitted, but we needed to negotiate the finer points of what we were to each other. There were words between us that would need to be said, sooner rather than later, but we'd been skating around them for so long in ignorance that we needed to be ready to say them. And I, at least, was reluctant to consider them in this world where my senses kept trying to trick me.
Even without contemplating the words, we acted differently with each other. We held hands, or wrapped our arms about each other. I could stare at her unabashedly, and I didn't have to be thinking about sex. Often I was, of course, but if her beauty or wit or my just wanting to be with her made me smile, I didn't have to pretend.
Sex was different, too. We'd been indulging each other's or our own feelings almost since the start, but being able to show affection made the experience part of something more, and when she lay along my body, her breasts flattening mine, she could take as long as she wanted, and I wouldn't be at all disappointed. The connection was sensual, but now it was emotional too. Or perhaps it always had been, but we'd swept that part under the carpet.
When I mentioned how much I'd love the old houses in Shakespeare's hometown, Sarah had suggested we visit some in Bristol. One of her suggestions was the Red Lodge Museum, which we explored, hand in hand. Parts dated from the sixteenth century, and the whole had an antiquated feel, with old furniture, heavy wooden four-poster beds, chandeliers and paintings all of which seemed to have endured for several lifetimes.
Outside, the gardens were centred around a low, shaped hedge. I stepped away to look at some of the flowers. When I turned back, Shannon was gazing over the green center pattern, and my breath caught.
I had always thought she was gorgeous. That and the intense look in her eyes were what had drawn me to her in San Diego over a year ago. Now there was no sexy red dress, stockings, heels or a face made up to impress. There was just a woman, blonde hair a little longer than at that meeting, in tee shirt, a wooly cardigan she'd picked up locally, jeans, and sneakers, and yet she was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. Her beauty wasn't her looks, or her sexiness, though it included those. She was smart, witty, supportive, and willing to share her vulnerabilities.
Her face was serene, which I'd almost never seen. There is no peace in the vicinity of a sales event. She had been far more relaxed at her house, but here, she seemed perfected. The upwelling of emotion in my heart threatened to bring tears to my eyes. I knew, now, I knew why I'd felt the way I had when I saw her waiting for me at Heathrow. And her face had been full of joy when she'd seen me. I finally understood.
Shannon must have felt me watching. She turned to see me looking at her, and smiled. A smile that showed true affection. I walked forward and wrapped my arms around her, nuzzling her neck.
"What's this for?" she asked me, amusement in her tone.
"Because you're special," I said.
When I released her, she slipped an arm around my back. "So are you, Kat," she said, then we stood for a time, enjoying the peace.
On the second Friday of my stay we visited the purple palace, officially the Queen's Shilling, for dancing. I'd talked Shannon out of karaoke on Monday, and - oh, what a shame! - we had a scheduling conflict for the following Monday, since on the day after dancing, we took the train to London for two days, and then the high speed train to Edinburgh. Neither two days in London nor two in Scotland was close to being long enough, but we did get a trip in both directions, much of which felt like being in a plane about to take off. We agreed that we'd find a way to return next year, with a plan to travel a little further. At least a week in London would be good.
My final full day was Friday. On the next day, I'd be heading home. Shannon would be at work on Monday for a few days, then on her way to Germany. After today we wouldn't see each other for months.
We retired to our room with wine and chocolate, feeding the chocolate to each other whenever we took a break from exploring the other's body, building up memories for the coming drought.
I almost wanted to cry, to be losing her so soon after discovering that we'd become more than friends. But at the same time I was excited that when we were next together it would be for more than a long string of one-night stands. We'd be free to share how we really felt.
Shannon snuggled up against me. I could feel the warmth of her breasts against my back. Her hand stole around to my belly.
"Hey, Kathryn," she said, before I was far along the road to sleep.
"Yeah, babe?"
"You know I..." her voice faltered. "You know that she was right? That I am in love with you?"
She didn't need to identify who she was talking about. Sarah's words had stayed with me for two weeks now. I twisted around in her arms to face her. I wouldn't be able to sleep like this, but even though we'd turned out the lights, I wanted my arms around her.
Shannon felt soft against me as I leaned forward to kiss her neck. "So, you didn't want to wait four months, either?" I said, my lips against her ear. "Yeah, I know, honey. I'm in love with you, too, and I think I have been for months. I'm so happy to be with you, and it's going to be hard to leave tomorrow. I hope we can be together again soon."
I felt her nod her head, then turn her face toward mine. We shared a gentle kiss, and I don't recall turning away from her before falling asleep.